December 1, 2021

A Mountain of Snowy White Marshmallows

By Christine Burns Rudalevige

The buoyancy of a marshmallow is crucial to the role it plays in a mug of hot cocoa. You want a serious floater. These homemade powdery confections add panache to any mug of dark, creamy, liquid chocolate.

Print Recipe

Makes

Marshmallows

Ingredients

Cooking spray
3 tablespoons powdered unflavored gelatin
1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups light corn syrup
Kosher salt
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
½ cup cornstarch

Instructions

Spray an 8- by 8-inch pan with cooking spray. Place the pan, a firm spatula, and a clean kitchen towel near your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
Combine gelatin, ½ cup cold water, and vanilla in the bowl of the stand mixer. Whisk until the gelatin is the consistency of applesauce.
Pour ¾ cup hot water into a 4-quart saucepan. Add granulated sugar, corn syrup, and a pinch of kosher salt. Do not stir. Place the pan over medium-high heat and bring it to a full, rapid boil. Cover the saucepan with a lid and let it boil for about 2 minutes. Remove the lid and boil the syrup until it registers 245° on a candy thermometer (about 10 minutes).
With your mixer running on medium speed, carefully pour the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin. Once all the syrup has been added, cover the mixer and the bowl with the kitchen towel to prevent spatters, then increase the speed to high. Whip until the mixture resembles soft-serve ice cream (about 10 minutes).
Spray the spatula with cooking spray and use it to scrape the marshmallow mixture into the pan. Spray your hands lightly with cooking spray and smooth the top of the marshmallow block. Let the marshmallows set for 6 hours.
Combine powdered sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Sprinkle the top of the cured marshmallows with ¼ cup of this mixture and smooth it out evenly. Flip the block of marshmallows out onto a cutting board. Sprinkle ¼ cup of powdered sugar mixture over the upended block. Use a sharp knife to cut the marshmallows into 1-inch squares. Toss each square in the remaining powdered sugar mixture so all the sides are evenly coated.

About the author

Christine Burns Rudalevige

Christine is a former Editor-in-Chief of edible MAINE. She has lived in many places, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, England and France. But her professional world has consistently been grounded in just two: in journalism and in the kitchen. Throughout her 30-year writing career, she’s covered sports, politics, business and technology. But for the past 10 years after completing culinary school, she’s focused on food. Her words and recipes about eating locally and sustainably have appeared in publications from The Portland Press Herald to Fine Cooking. Her award-winning cookbook Green Plate Special was published in 2017. When she’s not laboring over a cutting board or a keyboard, she’s learning from her two semi-adult children, a community of food-minded friends, hundreds of productive Maine farmers, thousands of innovative chefs near and far, and her 30,000 honeybees.